Johnny, I’ll keep the aftermarket engine mount too and check if the original one will do its job. If not I’ll put them back on. Once our cars are finished they will look like twins
When I bought the car the engine was not running and I considered that it will need at least a fresh up if not a full rebuild.
But once the car was in my garage I discovered some stamps on the engine block and head.
It looked like the engine has been rebuilt by ‘John Wilcox Competition Engines’. I contacted the company and Mrs. Wilcox was so kind to confirm that the engine has been fully rebuilt to 190bhp spec by them in 2004. I don’t think that the car has done many miles since then.
I replaced the timing belt (using the 26mm version). The water pump and the tensioner still looked fine so I kept them.
The engine number mentioned in the ‘Certificate of Provenance’ confirmed that the engine is still the original one. I’m very happy about that .
Does anybody can confirm from just the look of the key slots of the inlet cam pulley if that’s the 110° (i.e. 190bhp) version?
I know it’s only 4 degrees difference. I could not find any picture showing both pulleys side by side on the net.
Best approach would be to check the valve timing but I don’t have the facilities to do it myself.
Ok, thanks John. I’ve read somewhere about a third slot but never saw a picture of such a pulley.
I think I’ll have to get me some valve timing gauges to finally find it out.
To reduce the heat transfer into the cabin I did the following things:
installed a manual operated heater shut off valve (see post above).
did not re-install a front mounted oil cooler so no hot oil lines that run through the sills to the front. I’m planning to add a Laminova-style water/oil cooler later on.
closed all holes that allow hot air from the engine bay to enter the cabin (in the bulkhead and at the RH/LH edges of the dashboard cross member)
isolated the coolant tubes in the chassis side rails using some foam tubing. This was a tricky job and I was only able to push the hose about 3/4 up to the front while entering from the rear chassis rail opening
I’m not sure if it all helps but I will report once the car is running
The rear suspension needed to be refreshed too. Nothing special here.
With the car came a set of freshly rebuilt LSS Koni shocks. Let’s see if the Exige ‘Yip’ has survived
You need to be strong Jonny - some more restoration porn
The front suspension had been refreshed too. Luckily there is no evidence of any accident damage visible.
Just some dints and dents from the mechanics that tried to fix the suspension by using not more than a hammer and a screw driver.
Finally the car is back on its wheels. I still need to do a full wheel alignment which I plan to do it myself. The local alignment shops are having no clue what they are actually doing
I learned this the hard way with my early Europa and the Elise before.
The Konis came rebuilt with the car. The seller, Marten, had them rebuilt by a small company near the Koni factory in the netherlands. I’ll contact him and let you know.
Fancy a ‘Yip’?
This is the address of the company that refurbished the Koni LSS shocks (thanks Marten):
Frans Verbaas Preparations
Pad van Jongejan 2
Oud-Beijerland, 3261 CC
The Netherlands
Telephone (Main): +31 186 612397
[u]http://www.verbaaspreparations.nl/[/u]
It’s been a while since i looked at this post, but i take a deep bow for Klaus.
I saw the car in Klaus’ garage not long ago and it looks even better in the flesh than on the photo’s
He did a great job sofar and has done much more than i ever had planned and turns it into a very nice example
I can’t wait to see Klaus again with a running car on my drive, topjob
Awesome 
